Diaspora
by Soul Reaver
Summary: Two new mutants arrive at the institute. *CH6 UP* A little Lancitty for all fans of that pairing. A little bit of everything. Please R+R
1. Diaspora

Diaspora  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own neither the X-men Evolution or Alien Resurrection franchises. The name Lydexter and the Asylum for Troubled Teens I borrowed from Carmine's fanfic, Memories of Days Gone By in the Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego section.  
  
Charles Xavier sat in Cerebro's chamber identifying two new mutants. "Location: Los Angeles, California, name Daryl Ayden, age 17. Location: Seattle, Washington, name Martin Reinhold Nace, age 16."  
  
This was perfect for getting the team together, it was summer time and for the first time there was almost nothing going on in their busy schedules. He had to get the entire team assembled and ready to go with the X-jet across the country, first to Los Angeles.  
  
The others were assembled in the living room, "We have two confirmed new mutants detected by Cerebro, and they both are on the west coast." Xavier said, "So I'm going to need to split the team to see both of them. Jean, you, Scott, Logan and Kitty go to Seattle and find Mr. Nace. The rest of us will find Mr. Ayden."  
  
Getting onto the Blackbird, they compared notes. "Aw this bites." Evan said, "I was gonna do some major skating this week too."  
  
"It might not be too bad Evan, like, I heard L.A. has the best skate parks." Kitty replied.  
  
"Hey, yeah." Evan grinned, board slung under his arm, "I just might love this…"  
  
Kurt's holoimager now included a raincoat, "Kurt, what's that for?" Jean asked.  
  
"Easy, vat's for ven ve get to Seattle. It rain dogs and kittens there." Kurt replied.  
  
"That's cats and dogs, Kurt." Scott replied.  
  
"Vatever." Kurt replied as the jet lifted off with Scott at the controls.  
  
"This place sounds like a prison." Jean Grey said, "Seattle Asylum for Troubled Teens."  
  
"I hope this kid isn't too much trouble." Scott said, "But let's see what Dr. Lydexter says."  
  
A few hours later the Blackbird touched down in Seattle, dropping off the group that was going to contact Martin Nace, and flew off to Los Angeles to contact one Daryl Ayden. Aside from the little bits and pieces of information that Cerebro provided, they still did not have much to go on. They knew that Daryl Ayden came from a loving and caring family with three children, but Martin Nace lived in an orphanage of some kind. How would both of them react to know there were others like them?  
  
The X-men all knew that people with new powers felt fear, rejection, despair, an entire gamut of emotions. Daryl's family might be helpful and supportive at best, or they might shun him at worse, he would be easiest to convince, but Martin seemed to be a fellow who had to live by his wits, always dodging bullets left and right at the orphanage. It was an uncertainty as to what they would find… 


	2. Martin

Martin  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own neither the X-men Evolution or Alien Resurrection franchises. The name Lydexter and the Asylum for Troubled Teens I borrowed from Carmine's fanfic, Memories of Days Gone By in the Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego section. * indicates telepathic communication. I'm just doing introductions at this point, more details will follow on the two new characters in later chapters.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Martin Nace looked around the small room he called his own in the living section of the Asylum for Troubled Teens run by one Dr. Lydexter. It was breakfast time and Nace saw one of the younger girls, Cassie, who was 15, walking to the cafeteria. She was lying low as usual, because she wasn't too assertive Lydexter and his assistant Ms. Grudge, whom Nace frequently described as "one of those butch, weightlifter lesbian types" liked to pick on her a lot.  
  
"Hey baby sis, what's wrong?" Nace asked. Cassie was one of his few friends here and he frequently protected her and the younger kids from the worst of Lydexter and Grudge's treatments.  
  
"Nothing Marty, just drop it." Cassie said.  
  
"Let me guess, Ms. Grudge jump on you again." Nace replied.  
  
"She took away my locket, the only thing I have left of my mother just because I was 'misbehaving and giving her an attitude' or something." Cassie said.  
  
"Hey, I've been her for nine years, since I was six. Cass, you've got to learn to be more assertive, protect yourself, you know." Nace replied.  
  
"What can I do, if I say something Lydexter will just get on my case again, maybe confine me to my room…" Cass said.  
  
"Look baby sis, you've got to be more assertive or they walk all over you around here." Nace said. Cassie had lost her parents three years ago and since she had been here Nace had been one of her few friends.  
  
He was hiding something too; he had just discovered two nights ago that something just wasn't the same about him. It started in the library when he was reading George Orwell's 1984. He looked down at his hand and it was almost as if it had rendered itself transparent. He wasn't dreaming, it had. He was excited yet terrified, he knew that with that ability he could render himself invisible and escape. He hated this orphanage, he hated Lydexter and Grudge's abusive tyranny and how they picked on the weaker kids, encouraged them to rat out on escape plans and other nonsense. With this power he could just make himself disappear and get out.  
  
His rational mind took over, where would he go, what would he do. He had no family, he could barely remember anyone save for his mother, and he had nowhere to go. Even if he did, the strange power only worked at random, he couldn't control when he would vanish into thin air or not. That's why it was important to stay low, because if Lydexter found out, who knows where the doctor, trying to raise his academic reputation, would send him or would do to him. That guy was always trying to make himself a leading expert in the field of adolescent psychology and he used this Asylum for Troubled Teens as a sort of front for his research.  
  
Martin was a dark haired fellow, medium built, with gray eyes. He had an ability to blend into the background and vanish into a crowd, which was an asset. "Marty?" Cassie said, "Marty, where are you?"  
  
"Right here, I'm standing next to you." Martin replied, and he felt horrified, Cassie had seen it. She wouldn't tattle on him but if pressed to hard she might just break and tell.  
  
"Oh God, Marty, I can't see you, come out." Cassie said.  
  
An invisible hand clamped over her mouth, "Shh, Cass, not so loud, they might hear. Now I don't know what's happening, but I know what I'm going to do right now…I can't tell you yet." Martin replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"This place is, like, so creepy." Kitty Pryde said, looking at the imposing building with the sign that read Seattle Asylum for Troubled Teens.  
  
"It looks like Alcatraz or something." Kurt said.  
  
*What did Martin do to get him put in a place like this?* Jean thought, not wanting to spook Kurt and Kitty's already overactive imaginations.  
  
They were allowed entrance and met with Dr. Lydexter. He was a small man with a mousy personality, and as the massive shrew of a woman Ms. Grudge left the room, he opened a drawer with a brief dark stare before trying to put some more of that oily politician's charm on his two visitors, Scott and Logan. Kitty, Jean, and Kurt were looking for Nace.  
  
"This facility," Lydexter began, "was established with an emphasis on rehabilitating orphaned teenagers, particularly troubled ones. You were looking for a…"  
  
"Martin Nace, Dr. Lydexter." Scott said.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Nace." Lydexter said, something about that man made Scott's spine shudder, though in what way he couldn't quite explain.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Nace had the best idea ever; he was going to shut Lydexter's little operation down for good. He had already stolen back Cassie's locket and now he was stealing files, data disks, all kinds of pieces of incriminating evidence which he was cramming into a backpack when he heard the door to the archives open. He stood still, knowing full well he couldn't be seen.  
  
"Like I swear I heard something in here," one of the three strangers who opened the large green metal door said. She was a slender brunette, with azure blue eyes.  
  
"Kitty there's no body in here." Said a German boy with longish hair.  
  
The red headed girl concentrated for a minute and said, "I sense a mind, but it's faint, fearful."  
  
"Omigod! Look!" the brunette, Kitty, said. Apparently Nace had become fully visible.  
  
Standing in front of the three X-men was a medium built lad with short brown hair standing about 5' 8" wearing a white t-shirt with AC/DC written on it in black letters and gray cargo pants carrying a black Sierra backpack.  
  
"We're not going to hurt you." Jean Grey said.  
  
The kid bolted past them and ran, Kurt bamfed after him. "She's right. Vere here to help you."  
  
Running, somewhere, anywhere better than here, Nace ducked inside a storage room. Kurt bamfed inside the room, "What the hell do you want?" the kid said, looking suspiciously like him.  
  
"To help you. Vere just like you, different." Kurt said.  
  
"Alright, I'll hear you out." Nace said suspiciously, "Martin Nace."  
  
"Kurt Wagner." The kid said.  
  
The two girls that had been with the vanishing boy appeared, but how, he hadn't even seen the door open. The brunette seemed to pass right through the door with the redhead in tow.  
  
"Who are you guys?" Nace asked.  
  
"I know how you must feel, confused, angry, hurt…" the redhead began.  
  
"Yeah." Nace admitted, "But I've always felt that way. I've always been on my own. No body cares about me but me."  
  
"You'll find plenty of friends at the Institute." Jean said.  
  
"And what is this institute?" Nace said.  
  
It took a while but Nace heard an incredible story, a whole freaking school of people like him, of people with strange powers. It was too much to take in. "Look guys, I appreciate the offer, but I've got something important to do, shut this place down!"  
  
"Why? It's your home?" Kurt said.  
  
"It's a damn prison!" Nace shot back, pulling a file.  
  
It was a file that was a mix of Lydexter's careful handwriting and typed script. It was about how Lydexter was doing an experiment on the affects of isolation on teenagers, it was one where he alienated one Martin Reinhold Nace from most of the others. Jean looked up as a far away and nearly tearful look was on Nace's face. "I'm going to close this sick bastard down if it kills me." Nace said.  
  
He walked through the hall, backpack over his shoulder and out the back door. "Where are you going Nace?" said Eva, Ms. Grudge's little snitch.  
  
"None of your business." Nace growled back, "You're gonna tell Ms. Grudge, well, I don't care, you can't hold that club over my head any longer."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Kurt bamfed over to Nace, "We'll go with you to the police station."  
  
Scott and Logan, having taken the canned tour of the place, joined them. A few days later, after the file was placed Lydexter's asylum was closed, pending an investigation and the children were being housed at several foster homes.  
  
"Strange, " Nace said, standing outside the empty building with crime scene analyzers running about, "For the past nine years this place has been like home to me, strangely."  
  
"Well, you'll like you're new home." Jean said.  
  
"Ready to go, Martin, we're waiting on you." Scott said.  
  
"Yeah, but first I've got one last thing to do." Nace said.  
  
He saw Cassie about to get into a van, "Hey Cass! Wait up!"  
  
Nace the young girl with sandy brown hair a folded piece of paper, "I was gonna leave this under your pillow but since we're not sleeping here anymore, I thought I'd just give this in person."  
  
Cassie opened it, inside was a note and her locket. Tears came into her eyes, "Thank you Marty!"  
  
She threw her arms around him. "I'll see you around baby sis."  
  
At the car, Scott asked, "Why'd you call her baby sis?"  
  
"She didn't have anyone except me to stand up for her against Lydexter. Over the years she became kind of like a sister to me. Hence why I call her baby sis." Nace said, lugging his two bags into the back.  
  
Inwardly Martin Nace hoped that these "X-men" were right, that he'd love the Institute. He at least hoped he'd have friends, real friends this time instead of having to rely on himself and his wits like he always had to do. But he was also a little scared, what was this new place like? He hoped he'd understand when he got there. 


	3. Daryl

Daryl  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own neither the X-men Evolution or Alien Resurrection franchises. The name Lydexter and the Asylum for Troubled Teens I borrowed from Carmine's fanfic, Memories of Days Gone By in the Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego section. * indicates telepathic communication. I'm just doing introductions at this point; more details will follow on the two new characters in later chapters.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
*C'mon Daryl, I know you're interested, cut to the point.* came the thought.  
  
"Okay Joanna, do you wanna go out?" Daryl asked.  
  
"How did you know?" the dark eyed brunette grinned at him.  
  
"You just said that a minute ago." Daryl said.  
  
"I never said anything." The girl said.  
  
"Wait a minute. I swear I heard you say C'mon Daryl, I know you're interested, cut to the point." Daryl said.  
  
"No I didn't." Joanna said, "Wait a minute! I might have been thinking that, but how did you guess."  
  
"Just lucky, I guess, Jo." Daryl said.  
  
"Call me later when you're normal." Joanna said.  
  
She had been Daryl's good friend for years, but trying to push it to the next step just wasn't working. Confused as anything, Daryl walked through the bustling parking lot to his car.  
  
It was like he could hear a cacophony of voices, of all tones, angry, sad, enthralled. It struck him with the force of a tidal wave. Why was he hearing people talking when they weren't even speaking to him or to each other? He couldn't stand it, it was too much, voices, all these voices invading his head which felt like it was going to explode. He sank to his knees clutching his head with tightening fingers, his face a mask of unimaginable pain.  
  
"Daryl!" shouted Joanna, "Oh my God! Call an ambulance! Daryl, speak to me!"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Professor Xavier, Ororo, Evan, and Rogue approached the comfortable looking suburban house with its white Southwestern façade gleaming in the Southern California sunlight. Knocking on the door brought forth an older man, with short salt and pepper hair with a graying beard, "Mr. Ayden? I'm Professor Charles Xavier, is your son home?"  
  
"No." the man said, his hand on a small pistol in his waistband, "How do you know about our son and what do you want with him?"  
  
Behind him was a woman a few years younger, with graying brown black hair, dark eyes, and a worried expression, "Owen, hear these people out, they may be able to help Daryl."  
  
"Kathryn, how could these people help our son, Dr. Teofilo was unable to even diagnose his condition?" the man whispered to his wife.  
  
"Let's just say I know what Daryl's going through." Xavier said.  
  
"Owen, let him help our son." Kathryn said.  
  
Owen solemnly opened the door all the way and led them upstairs to Daryl's bedroom. "Mom? Dad?" the young man lying in bed was saying, "What's happening."  
  
"Daryl these people have come to help you? What's the matter?" his mother said.  
  
"I don't know! All I know is that I'm hearing everyone's voices in my head!" Daryl said.  
  
Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated *Daryl, can you hear me?*  
  
*Yes, who are you people?* Daryl thought back.  
  
*Concentrate on my voice, Daryl.* Xavier replied.  
  
*Okay, I'll try..* Daryl thought back.  
  
Hours later, Daryl sat up in bed. "Who are you?" he asked.  
  
"Let me explain." Xavier said, "I run an institute for specially talented youngsters such as yourself. Every one of these people you see is just like you."  
  
"You mean you all can talk with your minds?" Daryl asked.  
  
"Not all of us, you see we are all gifted in different ways." Xavier replied.  
  
"So how is our son 'gifted'?" asked Owen Ayden.  
  
"Telepathy, your son has the ability to read thoughts, hence the reason why he was speaking of hearing voices." Xavier replied.  
  
"How did this happen?" Kathryn asked.  
  
"These special abilities manifest themselves typically around adolescence during times of great stress. Were you under any stress today Daryl?" Xavier said.  
  
"Quite a bit, actually, math final exam was coming up, I had a very stressing track practice…" Daryl replied, "Does stress bring it out?"  
  
"Sometimes. We're not really sure why some people manifest abilities and others don't." Xavier replied, "So, I leave the decision up to you, to join our institute or stay here."  
  
"Can I sleep on it? I mean this is a lot to think of. The distance isn't the thing, it's just a big thing to just up and leave like that." Daryl replied.  
  
"Take your time, Daryl." Xavier said.  
  
"We're with you all the way." Owen replied.  
  
"Thanks Dad." Daryl replied, "Uh, Professor, I just want to say goodbye to someone before I go."  
  
"Take all the time you need." Xavier said.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hello, is Joanna home? This is Daryl."  
  
"Hey Daryl," the voice replied back cheerily, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine. Look I want to talk to you for a minute. I've made a decision to leave for some school in Bayville that's going to help me with what I went through today. I just wanted to tell you."  
  
"Daryl, I just want you to know you have my support. I hope things work out for you." Joanna replied.  
  
"Thanks Joanna. Keep in touch?" Daryl replied.  
  
"Sure." Joanna replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The big black private jet sat out on the tarmac as Daryl walked toward it. He could see his mother and father waving, and with a small grin, he waved back. As he walked aboard he took a seat next to a youth with brown hair, gray eyes, wearing a green hunter jacket with a brown leather collar. "I'm Daryl, what's your name."  
  
"Martin." The other kid replied.  
  
Daryl wondered what awaited him at the Institute, he was feeling both excited and a little scared. The other boy didn't seem too bothered, and he asked why, "I've been shuttled all about the place since my mother died when I was six." Martin replied.  
  
"Do you have any idea what this place is gonna be like?" Daryl asked.  
  
"I don't." Martin replied, "I'm in the same boat as you man." 


	4. First Days

First Days  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own neither the X-men Evolution or Alien Resurrection franchises. The name Lydexter and the Asylum for Troubled Teens I borrowed from Carmine's fanfic, Memories of Days Gone By in the Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego section.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So what you're saying is I can read people's minds? That's telekinesis?" Daryl Ayden asked Jean Grey as they sat in the mansion's large study.  
  
"Yes, and its called telepathy. It means you can sense emotions, thoughts, probe minds, and speak with your mind." Jean replied, jotting something down on a clipboard.  
  
"Whoa. And what's telekinesis?" Daryl asked.  
  
Jean, using a bit of concentration and almost no effort managed to pull the dictionary from a nearby bookshelf, "Telekinesis – The ability to move objects with one's mind. We already know you're telepathic Daryl, let's see if you're telekinetic, try to move something in this room." Jean said.  
  
Daryl pointed to a flowerpot, "Fair enough, now concentrate on it, say make it hang above the table for as long as you can." Jean said.  
  
"Okay, I got it." Daryl said, grunting and holding his temples after a few seconds from exertion, "Damn that hurts, can't hold much longer…."  
  
The flowerpot struck the marble floor before Daryl could recover control or Jean could catch it. "Not bad for your first attempt." Jean said.  
  
"What do you mean, that wasn't even a few feet off the table." Daryl said.  
  
"Daryl, remember, you've only been here a couple of days. It takes practice." Jean said.  
  
"How's Marty doing?" Daryl asked. Jean looked at her clipboard, "Seems like he's doing his evaluations too."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"I can't see him at all." Kitty Pryde said, scanning over the section of the wall and a small copse of trees near the main gate.  
  
"That's the idea, half pint." Wolverine said, walking along, sniffing the air, "And if he remembered his lesson, he's supposed to camouflage his scent too. How are we for time."  
  
"Since we started, thirty seven minutes." Kitty replied.  
  
"Ten minutes better than the last time, and over thirty better than the first. I hope he at least remembered to keep moving and move judiciously." Wolverine replied.  
  
"Well, I wonder where he is and…whoa!" Kitty said, tripping over something. What she had tripped over, she didn't see, it just looked like she had walked over a patch of the lawn. Wait a minute, was that a shimmer of movement and was the grass shuffling as if someone was crawling on top of it?  
  
"Gotcha!" Wolverine said, "Exercise over, bub."  
  
Nace stood up and shimmered into view. Standing there in his newly issued jumpsuit, Martin Nace said, "How'd I do?"  
  
"Time, half-pint." Kitty said.  
  
"Thirty seven minutes and fifteen seconds, including me tripping over you." Kitty replied.  
  
"What were you doing lying out in the open where you stand a greater chance of discovery?" Wolverine asked.  
  
"Easy, I was hiding where no one would think to look." Nace replied.  
  
"Do it again, and remember that last lecture I gave you on camouflage." Wolverine replied, "Dinner time's not for another two hours."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Daryl Ayden dug hungrily into the meal on his plate, "Who'd have thought that telekinesis was that taxing?" he said.  
  
"Like anything it uses up energy, you're not used to it just yet, so understandably you're tired." Jean said.  
  
"You think that's tiring, try having Mr. Logan hunting you across the grounds and lying still for long periods of time." Nace replied from across the table.  
  
"Oh yeah, try lifting objects by just thinking about them, it's harder than it looks. I've still got the details of that flowerpot permanently etched into my mind from concentrating so hard on it." Daryl replied.  
  
Kitty Pryde, sitting beside Nace, giggled lightly, "What's so funny?" Nace asked.  
  
"You should have, like, seen him try to hide in the pool." Kitty said.  
  
"So sue me, I forgot that while I was invisible, the leaves and dirt on me don't stay invisible." Nace replied.  
  
"Wolverine could, like, see that a mile away." Kitty replied. Nace joined in the laughing.  
  
"If I hadn't been that careless, he wouldn't have seen me at all, or smelled me for that matter as long as I remained motionless." Nace replied.  
  
"Well you guys will get your first Danger Room session this weekend." Scott Summers added.  
  
"What's the Danger Room?" Nace asked.  
  
"You'll see." Kurt said, teleporting behind Nace who got so startled that he grabbed Kurt's collar. However, instead of a collar his hand came away with a tuft of blue fur.  
  
"What the hell!?" Nace shouted.  
  
"Kurt's external appearance is not what it appears to be, but in some ways he's just like you, learning about his gifts and how to best use them." Professor Xavier replied.  
  
"This is unreal." Nace said, mystified yet strangely compelled by the reality of all this.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Team One, you're a go." Came the call over the comm link.  
  
Team One consisted of Nace, Kitty, Evan and Rogue. Nightcrawler, Scott, Jean, and Daryl made up Team Two. This was a simulated rescue of a captured mutant, Storm in this case.  
  
"Guards," Kitty said, "there are too many of them."  
  
"We need to distract them somehow, but how?" Rogue said.  
  
"I have no idea," Nace said, "But I bet I could slip by them."  
  
To prove his point, Nace cloaked himself, "Out of sight, out of mind."  
  
"What about those guard dogs, they may not see you but they'll smell you." Kitty said.  
  
"I'll draw them away." Evan said, getting onto his skateboard and pushing off a strip of concrete.  
  
"Evan, wait!" Kitty shouted.  
  
"Now we need to get someone to take care of those remaining guards, I'll take the one's furthest from the bushes." Nace said, decloaking.  
  
"And ah'll handle those other two rent-a-cops." Rogue added.  
  
"That leaves you to phase through that fence and let us in." Nace said.  
  
"Right." Kitty said, "Team Two, team one in position."  
  
"Roger that." Scott's voice came over the comm link.  
  
With that, Nace cloaked again and came running up to a guard. With deliberate caution and deceptive slowness, he took the guard's stun gun and touched it to him. The guard fell forward, stunned. Nace spoke into his own comm link, "Guard down."  
  
Rogue had just knocked out the other through simple touch, "Oh great, I hope I don't start growing a gut because of this."  
  
"Kitty, go ahead." Nace said.  
  
She opened the gate after phasing through it to let the others in. "We're in."  
  
"Good, now start seeing what you can do to confuse security." Scott said.  
  
Nace heard the order, cloaked, and started setting of motion sensors farthest from the building they were inserting the other team into.  
  
"You're a go." Nace said.  
  
Team Two began their mission, Nightcrawler teleported Scott into the main cellblock as Jean levitated the down, with Daryl as backup. Suddenly a telepathic burst hit both of them hard and Scott and Nightcrawler plummeted, the pair only being spared serious injury by Kurt teleporting again.  
  
Meanwhile, Nace saw a stealthy shape move by. Standing still, while cloaked, he didn't think that the shadowy figure had seen him. That was until he was tagged with the stun gun, "You're out." Wolverine's gruff voice echoed.  
  
"Mission failed." The Danger Room computer announced.  
  
"Very well planned, Scott, but I'm afraid you forgot the cardinal rule…" Xavier said.  
  
"Always expect the unexpected." Scott replied.  
  
"Precisely." Xavier said.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The dark haired woman blew lightly across her palm and the substance on her palm glinted and sparkled in the light. The little gray-eyed boy smiled and clapped his hands with delight.  
  
"Wow mom, how'd you do that?" the six-year-old Martin Nace said.  
  
"It's called optics, honey, I'll show you something else." The woman took a piece of white cardboard with two strings running through it, the drawing of a bird on one side and of a cage on the other. She spun the strings in such a way that it appeared the bird flew into the cage and back out again.  
  
"Can I play with it mom?" the kid asked.  
  
"It's for you hon." The mother said, giving her child a kiss on the forehead, "Now run along, the school bus will be here any minute."  
  
Ten years later Nace absently took the little toy from his pocket and again played with it. "That's neat. How did you, like, do that?" Kitty Pryde asked.  
  
"My mother taught me about optics when I was young. This was her way of teaching me whenever I asked questions, she'd take me out and show me what I was talking about." Nace replied.  
  
"You really must miss her." Kitty said.  
  
"It's been ten years, I've almost grown used to it." Nace replied.  
  
Kitty didn't ask what had happened to Nace's mother, because despite the laconic tone of voice, she could feel an intense feeling of bitterness and loss. Why wasn't Nace letting anyone get close to him? He was friendly enough, but it was almost as if he had an inner core he didn't want anyone knowing about.  
  
Kitty and the others as well came to the conclusion that Nace was just new here, and that he would probably open up sooner so it was probably best to let him be. They hoped he would open up at some point and not be an island unto himself as he was apparently doing… 


	5. Inner Sanctum

Inner Sanctum  
  
Disclaimer: I own none of the X-men Evolution characters in this fanfic. Nor do I own the Alien Resurrection franchise.  
  
Martin Nace tramped across the yard of the Xavier Institute's large grounds towards the front door. He walked up the stairs and inside. This was a part of his routine, had been for the past few months he had been at the Institute. He kept a small notebook in one pocket of his dark green hunter's jacket with its brown leather collar, which he wrote his personal observations and thoughts.  
  
He had befriended a lot of the others at the Xavier Institute, his three best friends being Kurt Wagner, Daryl Ayden and Kitty Pryde. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he belonged, somewhat. But there was still his inner sanctum, which he let no one in hadn't let anyone in for many years.  
  
He saw Kitty Pryde walk in, her small bag on her petite shoulders and her schoolbooks in her arms, "Need help?" Martin asked.  
  
"Sure, like thanks Martin." Kitty said with a smile.  
  
"You're welcome." Martin replied, smiling back. There was something about that smile, those kind hazel eyes, anyway something in general about Kitty that Martin was starting to find attractive.  
  
"Did you hear about that new Danger Room exercise that we're going to hold tomorrow? What's it all about?" Kitty asked.  
  
"Something I told the Professor, that when I cloak things look, I don't know, weird, distorted even. We're just going to see just what causes that." Nace replied.  
  
What Martin hadn't told Kitty, or anyone else, was that he could hear whispers when cloaked, almost imperceptible ones, but they had been getting clearer. Actually it wasn't they, it was one whisper, a single voice, female and one he knew. It was his mother's voice. Somehow it was connected to the brief periods of concentration lapses, dizzy spells, and weakness that he would feel after he decloaked. All he knew was that he couldn't hide it forever and somehow it would come into the open like the stench from a corpse buried in a shallow grave.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The young boy wandered through the forest growth, past a stately old oak tree and into a clearing. His mother was waiting for him, serene as always, beckoning her child. The woman seemed to put herself into an even more serene state, as time seemed to move slowly, the flower petals she had thrown from her palm spinning in the air, as did she, a ballerina dancing a slow pirouette across an invisible stage. The little boy seemed taken aback, but gradually a sense of wonder overcame his fear and he moved closer, his mother reaching down for him. The little boy took both hands and both twirled through the air with a steady rhythmic pace. The little boy's innocent smile and laughter brought their own joys to his mother.  
  
Suddenly all he could see were eyes, cold steely blue ones and the words in gruff tones, "Abomination. Devil. Witch!"  
  
Martin awoke suddenly, bathed in cold sweat, as if he had been cloaked for a long period of time. These dreams, why were they happening with greater frequency ever since he discovered his powers, and why did they always end with those cold blue eyes with insults directed at his mother?  
  
It was time for his Danger Room test, he realized, belatedly when Scott Summers knocked on his door, "Light a fire under it, kid, the Professor's been waiting for you."  
  
"Sorry." Martin managed, weakly as he threw on his dark blue jumpsuit and walked toward the Danger Room.  
  
He watched as Daryl helped Scott attach a device of Xavier's design to a harness that he wore across his chest. "You may cloak now, Martin." Xavier said.  
  
Nace cloaked, the world suddenly looking as though he were looking at it through a fisheye lens, and then the whisper, "Marty…"  
  
The memory struck again, this time more forcefully. He could see his mother from the window of his bedroom as she sat on the ground, drawing symbols in the sand of the walkway leading towards the tiny house on the outskirts of town. He had seen mother do this many times before. Again he saw the malevolent blue eyes narrowing with hate and hearing his mother's calm rational voice saying, "So long as you do no harm, do what you will…"  
  
It was then he saw the owner of the cold steely eyes; they belonged to a gray haired, fervent anti-mutant activist named Lothar Zable. He was a soapbox preacher who would often hold court at the town center, preaching his hateful speech to all who would listen. Declaring himself an ardent friend to humanity, he urged for the destruction of mutants, proclaiming them demons, abominations of creation. And over the years, Zable had gained a large following on the backwoods colony of Omar IV where young Martin resided with his mother in a small house outside town.  
  
Zable violently shoved his mother down, pointing to the symbols, denouncing them as witchcraft. Martin watched helplessly as Zable dragged his mother off to his chapel and with a Bible in his hands and then dragged her behind a red door in the back.  
  
The child Martin, filled with dread yet unable to pull away, opened the door, seeing a large iron casket with a slot that showed the eyes of the victim. He opened the lid, seeing the many little spikes that had killed his mother.  
  
"Arrraaaggghhh!!!!" Nace shouted, decloaking and collapsing to the floor.  
  
"Martin!" Came several concerned shouts.  
  
A few hours later: "Professor, what's wrong with him?" Daryl asked. Kitty and Kurt were in the room as well.  
  
"It seems Martin has been struggling with repressed memories that have made themselves more apparent since he got his powers. Having one's mother taken away at a very young age is a traumatic event. Apparently Martin suppressed the memories and for nine years and to a degree it worked. However, since he first discovered his powers, it somehow tore the barriers down. Now they have risen to the surface." Professor Xavier replied, "Martin's mother was a Wicca, and a mutant gifted much the same way you are Daryl, with telepathy and telekinesis."  
  
"You mean Martin's mother vas a vitch?" Kurt said.  
  
"Wicca, there is a fine distinction between a witch and a Wicca. Wicca are passive, in tune with nature, much like Martin's mother whereas witchcraft tends to deal even more with the occult. Martin's mother was the victim of both hatred for mutants and hatred for her beliefs. That's why she was killed."  
  
"You know," Martin said, sitting up in his infirmary bed, "You don't have to talk about me like I'm not in the room."  
  
"Martin, who killed your mother?" Xavier asked.  
  
"Some preacher named Lothar Zable. He used to preach the mutants were the devil and anything that wasn't in tune with his biblical interpretations. Mom was guilty of both counts. So Zable and some of his followers came into our yard when Mom was gardening and took her away…" Martin began, at first stoically, like playing back a tape recording of his own memory and then he started to break down.  
  
Kitty, Kurt, and Daryl all rushed to his bedside, "Martin." Kitty said, like the others, she was at a loss for words.  
  
"It will take time to heal, Martin. But time will heal your wounds." Xavier said.  
  
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Daryl asked.  
  
"I tried, I just couldn't." Martin replied, "It's like I buried it deep down in some inner sanctum, hoping to forget it."  
  
"Martin, we're, like with you all the way." Kitty said, putting an arm around him. Daryl and Kurt did the same. Martin realized that he didn't need to keep his hurt and anger imbedded in that deep inner sanctum any longer, and the fact that these people were truly here to help him. He initially didn't trust them, because trust was the hardest thing for him, owing to his nine years of being alone. To him it seemed that his loving mother was a dim and distant memory. At least here, he had some semblance of family. Nine years of repressed pain seemed easier to deal with now.  
  
A/N: I know this is kinda sappy, but I'll try to write more interesting stuff in later chapters. I was just fighting a major case of writer's block. 


	6. Vae Victus

Vae Victus  
  
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own none of the X-men Evolution characters in this fanfic. This takes place a few months before Shadowdance and before Boom Boom leaves. Could someone let me know if it was the homecoming dance that was pictured before Shadowdance?  
  
It was a typical Saturday morning at the Xavier Institute, with Kurt flipping through channels on the television. Martin walked into the room as Kurt flipped to a documentary. The speaker said, "The 9th Para Rescue Regiment is a unique unit in the United Systems Army. These men and women from around the world are rigorously trained in a highly selective program with a seventy-five percent attrition rate. They are medics trained to drop behind enemy lines to rescue downed pilots and bring them to safety."  
  
Kurt was about to change the channel when Martin said, "Wait, don't touch that. I want to see this."  
  
"Sure. Vhy not." Kurt said, Martin had been very interested in joining the Army recently. It was after he bought a book called Bonds of Brotherhood – The 9th Para Rescue Regiment and he had been eagerly digesting the material for almost a week now.  
  
"Like, what are you guys watching?" Kitty said.  
  
"It's about the 9th Para Rescue Regiment." Nace replied, eagerly.  
  
Kitty was about to reply when the phone rang, "Kitty!" Rogue yelled, "It's Lance on the phone!"  
  
She ran excitedly to the phone to talk to Lance as Martin looked on.  
  
'Poor guy.' Kurt Wagner thought, 'He's had a big soft spot for Kitty for a long time.'  
  
Martin stared at the TV watching the program, inside though he felt crushed. He did have feelings for Kitty; he had for nearly six months, almost half the time he had been here. It was as if it was too hard to say what he had felt, despite the fact that she was one of his best friends here at the Institute. Once the program finished, he decided to tuck himself into a corner of the garden where he could usually find peace and solitude. Well the latter was normally what he was able to find last year, but peace was starting to become more and more elusive for him.  
  
Some of the new recruits were playing around the yard, apparently. Martin no sooner sat down on a bench than a streak of electricity came flying inches above his head. Martin tucked the mark into his book, and walked off somewhere else, only to bump into a small twelve-year-old boy. To his complete surprise he saw six of the same kid. He had heard of the kid before, they called him Multiple. Now he could see why. He stood up and stomped away, a very grim expression on his face.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"What's his problem?" Jubilee said, helping Multiple up after he recollected back into one person.  
  
"Didn't you hear?" Tabitha said, "Nace has this massive crush on Kitty Pryde."  
  
"Really." Jubilee said, "How do you know?"  
  
"I can see it in him, easy." Tabitha replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hello, Army recruitment office, Sergeant Flanagan speaking." The recruiter said.  
  
"Martin Nace, sir, I'm interested in enlisting in the Army." Nace replied.  
  
"Okay, what are you, senior, junior…" the recruiter replied.  
  
"I'm a junior sir. I go to Bayville High School." Nace replied.  
  
"What jobs are you interested in doing in the Army?" Flanagan said.  
  
"I'm interested in joining the 9th Para Rescue Regiment, sir." Nace replied.  
  
"Well, I'll be. We're doing a presentation at your school on Monday, it just so happens, feel free to show up." Flanagan replied.  
  
"Yes sir." Nace replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Monday rolled around and a typical school day was unfolding. Lance walked up to Kitty and began to make a little small talk. He didn't see Nace was on his way to talk to her. And he didn't, because Nace turned around and stalked off. He stayed around long enough to hear the conversation.  
  
"Sorry I couldn't go out to the mall with you Lance. I was, like, totally stuck with all this homework." Kitty said.  
  
"Yeah, I know how you feel. I was stuck running around town looking for an all night store to get some pepto bismol because the Blob had a bad case of indigestion at four in the morning this morning." Lance said.  
  
"I am so sorry, that must totally suck." Kitty replied.  
  
"Yeah, it's not easy being the boss of the household." Lance said.  
  
Nace noticed that Lance had moved a bit closer throughout this exchange. Dejected, Nace hung his head and stalked off, bumping squarely into Scott. "Sorry." Nace mumbled.  
  
"Hey Martin, isn't that Army Recruitment presentation today?" Scott asked.  
  
Martin grinned slightly and walked off to the auditorium. Scott noticed Nace's depressed look and hurried to go find Jean. She was talking to Daryl in the library about his abilities.  
  
"Hey, do either of you know what's wrong with Martin?" Scott asked.  
  
"No, what's wrong with him?" Jean asked.  
  
"I don't know. He's been excited about that Army Recruitment presentation all weekend and then when I bumped into him in the hall and reminded him about it, he seemed like he didn't even care." Scott said.  
  
"He's been pretty upset about something too, but I can't get him to open up, it's almost like he's shut himself out." Daryl replied, "This bothers me because he's my friend."  
  
"I'm sure he'll come around eventually, but I can't understand why he's been so upset lately. And he refuses to say a word as to what's eating him." Scott replied.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"The Army?" Kitty said, when Martin took his customary seat beside her in English class.  
  
"Vow, you really must be interested." Kurt said. Nace had a gray Army t- shirt, at least half a dozen different recruiting pamphlets, that Bonds of Brotherhood novel he had been reading all weekend, a cassette tape titled Run to Cadence with the Army Para Rescue and one recruiting pamphlet for the 9th Para Rescue Regiment.  
  
"Why do you want to sign up for four years of your life? Don't you want to go to college?" Kitty asked, "And also the Army doesn't sound like it would be you're calling. I mean you're so good-natured. Why the Army?"  
  
"Maybe I'll go to college after the Army." Martin replied, "I really want to be a Para Rescue man. You have to be one damned good soldier to do that. And their job is to save lives."  
  
  
  
Kitty took one of the pamphlets; the one titled The 9th Para Rescue Regiment. It was signed, "Keep the press on soldier. So that others may live. Sgt. H. Flanagan, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Para Rescue Regiment."  
  
"So that others may live?" Kurt asked.  
  
"That's the unit motto. They're medics specifically trained to rescue downed aircrew behind enemy lines, treat their wounds, and get them to safety. They're some of the most elite soldiers in the Army, and best of their entire mission is devoted to saving lives." Martin replied, a boyish grin crossing his face.  
  
"Wow, that's why you joined track and field for distance running." Kurt replied, "That is so cool."  
  
"Martin, why is this guy holding a gun?" Kitty asked, "I thought medics were trained to save lives."  
  
"They are, it's just that theses guys are combat rescue medics, they are told to use their weapons in defense of those that they rescue." Martin said, "They're always put in the most dangerous situations to rescue downed and injured aircrew. They're the first ones to arrive at the crash site, and the last ones to leave."  
  
Lance arrived and for the next few minutes, he and Kitty again made some more small talk. At one point Lance made some small joke that caused Kitty to laugh lightly. Kurt noticed Martin reading Bonds of Brotherhood with a little more intensity than normal, as if he was deliberately trying to bury himself in it.  
  
As soon as the bell rang, Kurt felt a little more worried, because instead of chatting with them, Martin made a beeline for the cafeteria. Kurt ran to catch up, and Martin just kept moving faster. It was as if Martin didn't want to talk.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Scott took his usual seat at one of the outdoor lunch tables. Martin took another seat at the table along with Kurt, Spyke, and Daryl. Martin seemed unusually uncommunicative for someone that was talking almost non-stop about the Army recruitment presentation the entire weekend. He had his school bag and the plastic bag filled with Army recruitment material but there was none of the excited chatter they were expecting. Something was eating at Martin but they didn't want to provoke anything. Martin was a friend, but if he wanted to keep something to himself it wouldn't do any good to press him about it. Nothing short of Jean or Daryl doing a mind meld would force it from his mind.  
  
Martin was doing the best job of sounding like he cared about what the others were talking about, but when he saw Lance and Kitty flirting again he just stalked off. "What's his deal?" Evan asked.  
  
"I don't know." Scott said, "All I know is he saw something and the just took off."  
  
Daryl and Kurt guessed from Martin's line of sight what had upset him. "How long has this been going on?" Daryl said to Kurt telepathically.  
  
"I don't know, but I think Martin's got this big soft spot for Kitty and it's tearing him apart. I can tell he crazy about her but she barely knows he's alive." Kurt replied back, in his mind.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Vae Victus, suffering to the conquered, ironic now that I'm the one suffering. Not anything like physical pain although I might as well be. No it's the suffering of being in love with someone who doesn't even know you're alive." Martin Nace said to himself as he sat in an isolated corner of the library, "It's the impotent jab of what you feel are wasted passions, of doing everything in your power to tell her you care but being unable to find the words. It's the thin ray of hope you feel when she smiles at you and you're happy beyond reason. It's that one little negative comment about you that makes you feel devastated beyond reach. All you want is peace but peace seems unattainable…"  
  
A/N: Looks like I'm back in the grove. I don't mean to beg, but please read and review so that I can get a sense of how I'm doing. 


	7. Stand By Me

Stand by Me  
  
Disclaimer: Standard issue. This was just some pointless insanity I thought of a few hours ago…  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Duncan Matthews came backstage from the auditorium, his clothes torn and tattered, his hair singed, with an assortment of bruises. "Summers! Jean! Thank God! You've got to hide me. That maniac Martin's talent show act is a menace."  
  
"What do you mean?" Jean said, "All he did was sing Stand By Me."  
  
"Yeah and every time he said stand by me I go clobbered." Duncan said.  
  
"Encore! Encore!" came the shouts from the audience.  
  
"Oh alright." Martin Nace said.  
  
"When the night. Has come through. And the rain is gone. Won't you stand? Stand by me." Nace began.  
  
"Aaaghh!" Duncan shouted as he was chased by a swarm of seagulls that dive- bombed him from out of nowhere.  
  
"See!" Duncan said, "I need some iodine! Help!"  
  
"Stand by me." Came the words.  
  
As soon as Martin said that a spotlight fell from the rafters, nailing him squarely in the head.  
  
"Won't you stand? Won't you stand? Stand by me." Came the song.  
  
Amazingly a wrestler in yellow spandex came jumping through the wall, throwing Duncan into the air and into the far wall.  
  
"Stand by me." Martin said again.  
  
Duncan got shakily to his feet when a car landed on top of him. "Stand by me. Stand by me. Stand by me."  
  
Each time he spoke something bad happened to Duncan. First a power cable landed on top of him, electrocuting the jock. Then pack of velociraptors chased him through the audience. Finally Duncan went to sit down in a chair and wound up sitting on a very large spike.  
  
"Thank you, you were wonderful." Martin said, smiling. The audience was convulsed with laughter at Duncan dancing around shouting "Ow! Ow!" as a swarm of hornets stung him after Martin said Stand By Me one more time.  
  
No one saw him walk backstage and pull a bottle of Jack Daniels from his backpack, "Thanks Scarlet Witch. It might mean I'll be on probation if Professor X finds out, this is from his personal stash." Martin said, "Thanks for helping me get back at Duncan for that trick he told the cheerleaders to play on Kitty. I'll call you next time I need revenge."  
  
"She's crazy about Lance you know." The Goth said.  
  
"I know." Martin said, "But it was still pretty sweet getting Duncan back." 


End file.
